I fed my Betta's right before I went to go grocery shopping and when I came home after putting everything away I went to check on them as I usually do and noticed my baby girl Dahlia missing from her tank. I panicked and looked frantically on the floor and sadly.. it was too late she was under the heater. She managed to jump through an opening about a little less than 1/2 inch in size while I was gone. I know I'm not the only one who's ever gone through this.. but I'd like to encourage that everyone make sure there's no holes (even the tiniest spots) open on your tanks or you might wind up in my scenario. I miss her already, she was a feisty little brat.

Oh no! D'; I'm so sorry for your loss! R.I.P: Dahlia, may you swim eternally in clean water and feast on bloodworms for the rest of eternity! It's a real pity this happened, I had the same incident with a male, but he was well. So I hear bettas can survive out of water for the longest in hour?!?!? again, sorry for your loss- my koi met the same tragice end as well, i understand how u feel <3

I don't know how long she was out of the water. I tried putting her in water and sadly didn't respond to anything. I hope I made her home as cozy and loving for the short time she was with me. I'll be sure never to make this same mistake again.

If you can add some floating water plant, that could also help. I have some duckweed that does a good job at keeping my fish from jumping. It def makes them feel more secure, though if they are jumping for food it probably wouldn't help. Very sorry for your loss.